Later! - by Alison Baverstock (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

One minute you are taking your child to school, the next they're turning into a young adult. It may seem like only months since you were first filling your child's lunch box, but the school career moves with such momentum that it isn't long before they are facing the challenges of further education, job hunting and living independently. This new book will help you to encourage self-reliance in your nearly grown children and prepare them for independence in the real world.

It also shows how you can prepare for a time when your child's excitement at the prospect of leaving school, going to university or just living on their own leaves you feeling passed over and obsessed by detail they see as unimportant. How do you start to think about what to do with the rest of your life - picking up on ambitions, both personal and professional, and prioritising your own friends and interests?

And how do you handle the situation when, as is increasingly common, children later decide to return home to live? This book addresses current issues such as boomerang kids, sofa syndrome and how to motivate, money management for a generation disinclined to save, the hotel of Mum and Dad, and much more.

Later! is an empathetic guide to making sense of life at a time when all the ground rules need to be reconsidered, if not renegotiated. Packed with strategies, exercises and question-and-answer sections, Later! is user-friendly and entirely practical. It considers the hopes and plans of parents and children alike and, in the process, demonstrates how to 'move on' while sustaining a supportive, happy relationship.

Review Quotes

Can your offspring sew on a button? Do they treat your home like a hotel? Are they in trouble of some sort? Are they coping? Are you coping?

Parenting is a process of constant evolution and, although it brings huge rewards, it is not always easy to negotiate well. With this is mind, the authors of Later! have written a wise and practical guide to help parents guide their offspring through the 16-23 stage. The advice is compassionate, realistic, light of touch and unafraid. What better guide could there be?

--Elizabeth Buchan, author and mother of two

A straight-talking, practical guide... It is designed to help parents help their children, but there is a twist to it which I like - the authors also remind the mother or father in the picture not to forget to think about themselves as well.--Sandi Toksvig OBE, writer, broadcaster, Chancellor - and mother of three

Later! is essential reading for any of us who confront the reality of moving on; in entertaining style, it helps us to look at the realities of the changing nature of our family lives. With simple and amusing exercises it both stretches our thinking and allows us to make some sense of the emotional turmoil that change can bring. For professionals and for parents alike this is a book well worth reading--Nick Whitfield, Chief Executive, Director of Children's Services, Achieving for Children

A book full of pragmatic and practical advice that rings bells on every page--David Roche, bookseller, publisher, agent and father of three sons

Amid helpful case histories and thought-provoking exercises, there is a great deal of sensible advice on such contentious topics as career paths, first love and the Hotel of Mum and Dad--Mail on Sunday

If it's our families that shape our characters and if it's an upbringing which plots the course of a life, then its those firm roots which keep us coming back--Alasdair Baverstock, AITO Young Travel Writer of the Year (and son of author)

Parenting young adults today is an increasingly tricky business. With so many uncontrollable outside influences coming into play, doubts and dilemmas abound. This book will help you navigate a way through them. Later! suggests strategies for coping, while keeping in touch with our own identities. Refreshingly, it also points out that we all do the wrong thing sometimes - and that's OK. It's consistency and loving care that matters and, above all, not giving up--Sue Cook, writer and broadcaster

Read this book, absorb its warm wisdom and apply its practical advice and you will without doubt become a better parent and your children better adults. They'll be better prepared for the world that awaits them, and you'll be better prepared for life after they've achieved their independence--Dr Steve Carey, DPhil, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Victoria, Australia

About the Author

Gill Hines is an educator of huge experience. She has worked with a large number of parents, young people and teachers, offering workshops, mentoring and support in a wide variety of issues. Dr Alison Baverstock is an academic, author and mother of four, who met Gill through participation in one of her workshops. Both are regularly interviewed in the media about parenting, families and issues to do with young people. Their previous books together are Whatever! A down-to-earth guide to parenting teenagers and It's Not Fair! Parenting the bright and challenging child (both Piatkus).